Torino vs Roma · Serie A, Round 4 (00:30)
Roma have made a dream start: 3 wins from 3 league games, scoring 10 goals and conceding just 1, putting them 2nd in the standings, just 1 point behind Lazio, who have played a game more. Gasperini’s 3-4-2-1 high-pressing system is taking shape, with smooth build-up through midfield and a tempo in both phases that is among the best in Serie A — home wins over Fiorentina and Atalanta, plus a 4-goal demolition of Lecce away. An attacking return of 3.3 goals per game and a goals-against rate of 0.33: those are title-contending numbers.
Torino are the exact opposite: they have won just 1 of their first 3 games, are still without a home win, and sit 14th after scoring 4 and conceding 5. More damaging still, they are facing a crisis in their forward line — and that crisis is precisely the key to the result of this match.
2. Absences: Torino’s “entire strike partnership wiped out”, Roma missing “an axis in midfield”
The bad news for Torino is across the board:
Star striker Zapata is out with a knee injury — he is Torino’s most dangerous focal point up front
Striker Pellegri is out with a cruciate ligament injury, the kind that can end a season
Midfielders Ilić and Casadei are also among those missing
With both strikers unavailable, Torino’s attack is basically reduced to occasional forays down the wings. The data speak for themselves: in their last 5 home games against Roma, Torino have scored just 1 goal in total — 0.2 per game. Now that both key forwards are missing, their expected goals could fall even further.
Roma have their own problems too: